I am Canadian. When I ask for vinegar for fries in the US, I've gotten blank stares too.

Andrew, half sweet and half dry vermouth, always heard that referred to as a Perfect Manhattan or when using that other brown liquor, Perfect Rob Roy.

Sam

me: "I'll have a ceasar salad please."

waiter: "What kind of dressing would you like on that?"

the bread is toasted and the tuna and mayo melt nicely without cheese. Works well, also, with a cheese-free "patty melt." Yet, another circumstance when I get a weird look: "Patty melt without cheese."

Mine doesn't seem unusual to me, but 10 years ago I was in New Hampshire ordering breakfast. I ordered raw, uncooked oatmeal with fruit and skim milk. The waitress did a double take. I had to explain several times that all I wanted was for them to open a box of oatmeal, pour some into a bowl, put some raisins on it, and pour some milk on top. No, I don't want you to cook it first. Yes, I really want it raw. :rolleyes: The cook even came out to watch me eat my breakfast.

I learned to eat it that way when I was dieting years ago. Now I understand why horses like oats so much. I eat oatmeal this way 4-5 times a week. I can't stand cooked oatmeal anymore, it's disgusting. I'll eat instant if I have to, but I cannot eat anything cooked the "old fashioned way". It's like eating glue.

I'll try ordering it "Perfect", thanks for the tip!

I don't know where I picked it up (ordering it this way), but man, it's a good drink.

Cheers,

-Andrew

At a certain 3 Michelin Rosetted restaurant in Rome, a request for a simple glass of vodka, no ice but in a chilled glass from my dining companion, got a bit of a mardy from the waiter.

I agree, raw oats so much better!

chilled vodka without ice is hard to find, most places want to put it on the rocks or water it down in ice and pour it off into shot, no thanks!

Trainwreck - the finest casserole that my college dining hall served! A good batch of Trainwreck beats Hamburger Helper any day.


(and if you didn't spend enough time in American school dining halls, you might not know that a fine Trainwreck contains only 4 flavors - hamburger, tomato paste, elbow pasta and orange cheese. Those who add potatoes or green peppers should be ashamed of themselves.;) )

Try out some places in northern New England or Rhode Island. Still fairly popular there.

Names change, as do tastes. So it's not that they don't have an idea what you want, they just don't call it that any more. It's like ordering a Frappe. Nobody calls them Frappes anymore. Then try ordering a black and white Frappe, and they get totally confused.

Culture has a big deal with it, too. When I worked in Boston I would frequent an Au Bon Pain where most of their help was Brazillian. They honestly did not understand teh idea of toasting bread - so when you ordered a bagel tosted it took them a while to figure out how to properly toast one - and they had no idea why you would want to do such a thing!

My grandfather who was born and raised in the farm country of Iowa, loves to order "City Gin." By which, of course, he actually means "water." And he *loves* to confuse people with this. We went out for dinner at a place in Houston where our server clearly did not have good English, and the poor thing was incredibly confused, giving me a look of desperation and pleading to end her suffering.

Part of humor lies in that little twist of cruelty.

There's one FTer whom I've encountered at DOs who insists on ordering
Adam's Ale, to the general confusion of the staff. We don't carry that.
Oh, yes, you do. I'm thankful that I don't recall the identity of this FTer.

The only time I've had a waitress question what I ordered was when I ordered a veggie burger with bacon.

Now, THAT is just wrong.... :)